CMP Club News: Granbury High School MCJROTC Wins Marine Corps Championship and National Championship for Fourth Year in a Row!
Submitted by LtCol (Ret.) Scott Casey, Head Coach, Granbury Rifle Team
Rifle team members of the Granbury Marine Corps JROTC precision air rifle team took top honors as both the Marine Corps Service Champions and National All Service Champions for the fourth year in a row at the JROTC Virtual Air Rifle Championships (this year’s Nationals), sponsored by the Civilian Marksmanship Program, April 7-8, 2021.
For the first time in the history of the program, Granbury fielded three teams (the entire team lineup) in the National Matches.
Parker Haydin, Sarah Folsom, Ashton Arlington, Alexis DeLaPena, Tye Foster, Caroline Martin, Sunnee Schumann, Kaylynn Slaughter, Julia Czernik, Jonathan Hutchison, Cadince McGrath and Kameron Wells represented Granbury High School in the 3×20 air rifle event, featuring competitors firing 20 record shots from each of three positions (prone, standing, and kneeling) twice over the two-day contest.
The GHS top squad of Folsom, Arlington, Haydin and Slaughter shot a 4,709-327 out of a possible 4,800 points to claim the national title – 52 points ahead of second place East Coweta High School’s Marine JROTC. Additionally, Folsom led the team and shot a personal best of 1,187 out of a possible 1,200 points, placing her first and winning the gold medal as an individual along with claiming the title as the “Best in the Nation.” In addition, Haydin joined Folsom on the podium, shooting a total of 1,184 in both days that propelled him to a second-place finish overall.
Granbury’s second team of DeLaPena, Schumann, Martin and Czernik placed fifth overall. The third squad of McGrath, Wells, Hutchison and Foster placed 18th out of the field of 48 teams.
“I liked the way everyone fought through the match for every point to claim the championship – shooting a school record,” commented Lt. Col. Scott Casey, the Senior Marine Instructor and rifle team head coach. “What is just as impressive is our second team placing fifth overall. Also, two of our freshmen standouts, Wells and Czernik performed well – out pacing many seniors in the field. They are the future of the team, and I cannot wait to see what they will do next year.”
High school cadets from Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) met on the firing line virtually to complete a journey that has been months in the making. Over 4,000 junior shooters participated in the 2020 Civilian Marksmanship Program Postal Competition in October, with the highest-scoring shooters in each branch qualifying for this match.
“This is a really big deal for this team as we have been preparing for this match all year, trying to make it a fourth year in a row as National Champions,” commented Lt. Col. Casey.
View full results at https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&tab=results&match=21055.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.
